Your Weight Is Not Going to Change. Are You?

What if I told you that your weight would never change? That whatever number that appears on the scale today is what it will be for the rest of your life (despite the fact that I don't really believe in scales)? I'd like to know the answer.

Would you minimize your email window right now and walk to the nearest ice cream store? Would you make a doughnut date with your best friend for tomorrow morning? Would you eat every cookie and cupcake passed around the office no matter what the flavor? If so, awesome. Go for it!

Seriously. If you need permission, I hereby grant it to you: you have unconditional permission to eat whatever you want whenever you want it. Remember, in this scenario, there is no changing your weight. It is what it will be for the rest of your life.

I ask this question because last month, I overheard two different nutritionists saying that, really, we can't change our weights. Shocking? It shouldn't be. We all know by now that diets don't work. Yes, I suppose that if we continually eat past our fullness levels, perhaps we'll increase our weights. And yes, if we starve ourselves for any length of time, perhaps we'll decrease our weights (temporarily). But as we all know by now, diets don't work, and 95 percent of people who lose weight on diets end up regaining it ultimately (oftentimes reaching higher weights than they were at prior to dieting). So, really, the vast majority of us are meant to be at whatever weight we're meant to be at.

End. Of. Story.

So I ask you again, what would you do if you knew that your weight would not be impacted by what you ate? Just for fun, why don't you play with that notion for the next month. Eat whatever you'd like and pay attention to how it makes you feel. If you truly give yourself unconditional permission to eat whatever you want (and are not worried about your weight for one moment), I think something magical might happen for you. It happens for virtually everyone who goes through this process, also known as intuitive eating. I could tell you that you'll eventually learn which foods leave you feeling fabulous and which ones make you want to curl into the fetal position in your bed and not get up until morning. But I'd prefer not to answer the question for you, and instead let you experience it fully. For yourself.

Let me know how it goes, and if you can't bring yourself to try this experiment, write to me and let me know why. No judgment here. Just curiosity with the aim of helping you make peace with food and with yourself. Happy eating!

[*At right: the turkey burger from John O'Groats. It tastes as good as it looks]